La Lupe's nachos

Ever wonder what it's like to be filled with more tortilla chips than a bag of Tostitos? I found out on Saturday when I attended the nacho crawl set up by Lee from Nachos NY, a New York City nachos blog. Attendance was huge: Lee received so many RSVPs for the event that he was forced to turn people away, and still others showed up without RSVPing.

On the crawl we sampled nachos at three spots off of East Passyunk: Royal Tavern, La Lupe and Cantina Los Caballitos. My favorite nachos were the chicken ones at Royal Tavern -- they had a generous dollop of guacamole, fresh tomatoes, not too much chicken and a great zing of lime. Second place goes to the vegan beef nachos at Cantina, which were coated in real cheese despite the fakeness of the beef and had a good, smoky flavor and hot-pepper spice. (They also received praise from meat lovers, which is always a good sign.) La Lupe's nachos were fine, but I thought that their chip-to-topping ratio leaned too far to the chip side, making them a bit bland.

Nachos from the Royal Tavern

Despite being so recently stuffed silly with nacho goodness, I'm charged up to take more nacho adventures soon. Where should I go next? What are your favorite nachos around Philadelphia?

Images: Meg Favreau

Cantina Los Caballitos, the second stop on Saturday's Nacho Crawl.

Unless you're planning to ride Thursday's tryptophan lull straight through to Monday, you'll probably be looking for some things to do this weekend other than eat (or, at the very least, you might be looking for some non-turkey food to chow down on):

Thursday: The Philadelphia Thanksgiving Day Parade
It's hard to go wrong with giant balloons.

Friday: Black Friday
Strap on your shopping shoes and head to the stores. CBS3 has a round up of what times area malls are opening, and Philadelphia Weekly's Style blog has a great list of Black Friday sales at Philadelphia boutiques.

Saturday: Nacho Crawl
Ten dollars gets you in on nacho action at three South Philadelphia restaurants - just make sure you RSVP to lee@nachosny.com.

Sunday: Headhouse Square Winter Wonderland
From now until the end of December, every weekend will include a flurry of events featuring some combination of lights, singing and Santa. Start the series off with the Headhouse Square Winter Wonderland and tree lighting, 5 p.m. on Sunday night.

Photo by R. Kennedy for GPTMC

Black Friday always breaks my brain a little, pitting the part of me that dislikes crowds against the part of me that likes saving money. I usually go with the part that dislikes crowds and spend Black Friday inside my house, eating sandwiches made from the leftovers of Thanksgiving dinner and looking for deals online. Mmm. Sandwiches.

I'm still debating about whether or not I'll venture out this year, but I am starting to think about where in the Philadelphia area I would visit on Black Friday. There is, of course, the gigantic King of Prussia Mall, whose doors will open at 5 a.m. even though the stores won't open until an hour later. Over at the Cherry Hill Mall, the JC Penney's will open even earlier at 4 a.m. And in Coshohocken and Philadelphia, Ikea is offering free coffee and breakfast until 10:30 a.m. in addition to its sales.

Is there anywhere you're visiting for Black Friday in Philadelphia? A store or sale you go to every year, or an especially good deal you've heard about this year? Leave your suggestions in the comments.

The Philadelphia Marathon

Friday: Learn to Felt
If you wish you could make woolly goods for holiday gifts but don't have knitting or crocheting skills, check out Felting: From Fuzz to Form at the Fairmount Art Center. During this evening workshop you'll learn how to turn old wool sweaters into new, totally giftable goods.

Saturday: A Hard Act to Follow - Circus Cabaret & Dessert Bar
Watch performers from the Philadelphia School of Circus Arts leap, bound and swing through the air, then give yourself a sugar high at the dessert bar.

Sunday: The Philadelphia Marathon
Not running? Watch the race from one of the marathon's cheer zones, many of which also feature food, drink and entertainment.

Sunday Bonus: Morimoto's Happy Hour
While I was drooling over Philadelphia Magazine's list of the Best Happy Hours, and I noticed one particularly awesome thing: Morimoto starts the week off early by offering its happy hour specials on Sunday nights. Come on, it's been a long weekend: go eat some sushi.

Photo by G. Widman for GPTMC